Upcoming Online Events
Join Us on Saturday, August 7th, 5:00pm to 7:30pm
This year Stillpoint’s fundraiser will be a Joyful celebration of the gift of being able to gather together again in person!
Bring your picnic dinner and we will provide desserts, wine and a non-alcoholic drink.
A “Call Out” to all musicians, singers and poets to participate in the informal entertainment for the evening. We will have a drum circle, so come with a percussion instrument if you have one.
Our GRAND Raffle Prize is a 2 night stay at “Forest Hermitage" thanks to the generosity of Turtle Haven.
Any donations of raffle prizes, including baked goods, would be Terrific!
To help us plan, if possible, please RSVP by August 3.
Feel very free to join us whether you registered in advance or not.
“We are between stories. The old story is no longer effective. Yet we have not learned ‘the new story.’ We are talking only to ourselves. We are not talking to the rivers, we are not listening to the wind and stars. We have broken the great conversation. By breaking that conversation we have shattered the universe.” Thomas Berry
"A real dialogue is not possible when you treat the other as an object. Subjectivity is essential for conversations with cottonwood trees and deer and rivers ....
Repairing the great conversation means that we approach the world as alive, respecting that every individual - every single human being, every single leaf, every single ant - is unique and has their own subjective reality." Victoria Loorz from "Church of the Wild, How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred".
In times past, our ancestors knew they were intimately connected to the land. They lived in full relationship with the hawk, the forest, the fish. In Western culture awareness of the “web of inter being” has been steadily diminishing.
During this in-person eco-spiritual offering we will reflect on the role that wilderness played in the ancient stories of our religious traditions. You will be invited to wonder about the role of wild beings in your own spiritual development as you wander throughout the sacred Stillpoint grounds.
Individually and in community we will be listening for the alluring call of the sacred wild beckoning us to participate more fully in the holy conversation between all things.
This gathering will take place outdoors. Bring your journal if wish and wear comfortable walking shoes for your time of wandering and wondering. Please bring your own water bottle. If you have a favorite outdoor camping style chair, you may want to bring that too. Stillpoint has a variety of outdoor chairs available for use.
Facilitator:
Victoria Loorz, MDiv, a spiritual director, writer and the founding pastor of the first Church of the Wild, in Ojai, California and Echoes Wild Church in Bellingham, WA, co-founded and leads the ecumenical Wild Church Network. She is also co-founder, guide and director of Seminary of the Wild and guides the Eco-Spiritual Direction program. which trains spiritual directors to include the natural world as co-companions on the spiritual journey. Victoria is mother to two young adult children, Alec and Olivia.
Date and Time: Saturday, September 11, 9:00am - 1:00pm
Place: Stillpoint at Beckside Spirituality Center, 1625 Huntley Road, Bellingham, WA
Fee: $40.00, partial or full scholarships available upon request.
Checks made out to Stillpoint. Payment can be made on the day or mailed to:
Stillpoint, 1625 Huntley Road, Bellingham, WA 98226
Contact: Linda Conroy
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Victoria's book, Church of the Wild:
How Nature Invites us into the Sacred is scheduled to be released Fall 2021 through Broadleaf, Fortress Press. Learn more and pre-order here. “This book is a luminous love song to the Body of the Earth, a sober celebration of interconnection, an elegant entreaty and a bold proposal for a new way, the renewal of the ancient way, a way of healing and holiness and prophetic enkindling. This book is a prayer." Mirabai Starr Author of God of Love and Wild Mercy |
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September 25th, Two Events; 2 Livestream Viewing Options
Livestream event, 10:00am-11am, In person event at Stillpoint, 11:30am
Option #1 Watch Livestream at home
Saturday, September 25th 10:00am - 11:00am Livestream
Join John Phillip Newell as he discusses his new book, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul,
focusing especially on the three graces of Celtic wisdom for today.
• The Grace of Nature
• The Grace of the Human Soul
• The Grace of Awakening
‘‘In Celtic wisdom we remember that our soul, the very heart of our being, is sacred. What is deepest in us is of God. Every child, every woman, every man, and every life-form is in essence divine. This is the truth that the Celtic tradition is inviting us to remember." John Phillip Newell
John Phillip holds that to awaken again to this deep knowing is to be transformed in ways that
we choose to live and relate and act. We need this awareness among us again today, urgently.
This livestream presentation by John Philip Newell — co-hosted by Stillpoint (CA), Stillpoint Center for
Spiritual Development (NV), and Stillpoint Center at Beckside (WA) — will be followed by a shared online
meditation as well as the opportunity to submit questions and comments to the moderator of our webinar,
some of which John Philip will be able to respond to during the one-hour session.
Registered participants will be sent the Zoom link prior to the program. Unable to attend at that time?
Those who register will also have access to a recording.
Option #2 Watch Livestream at Stillpoint
Arrive at 9:45am if you wish to watch John Phillip Newell's offering with others at Stillpoint.
Second Event on September 25th
Saturday, September 25th,
11:30am- 1:00pm In Person at Stillpoint
All are invited to Stillpoint from 11:30am -1:00pm for an in person community gathering.to share our responses to John Phillip's livestream offering followed by a discussion of our upcoming monthly online series
"Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul, Sacred Conversations" beginning Oct. 4th.
If you are planning on partaking in the Monday night series OR curious to find out more about it,
you are most welcome to attend the discussion even if you have not watched the 10am - 11am livestream event with John Phillip.
There is no fee for this casual community gathering from 11:30am -1:00pm.
Bring a picnic if you wish to stay for lunch.
Monthly Online Series starting Monday, October 4th, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
8 Month Online Series, First Monday of the Month
6:30pm - 8:00pm
Dates: Monday, Oct. 4; Nov. 2, Dec. 7, Jan. 4, Feb. 1, March 1, April 5, May 3.
(There is a possibility that our May meeting will be an in person closing ritual at Stillpoint.)
During this 8 month series we will draw upon the insights in John Phillip Newell’s book,
“Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul”.
In our contemplative journey together, we will listen to the “voices” of wisdom
included in this book and to the wisdom each of us hold.
This journey will deepen our sense of interconnectedness to All
and guide our efforts in caring for our fragile, hurting world.
Facilitators: Linda Conroy, Bill Kirst, Denise Plaisier
Fee for 8 Month: $120.00, can be paid in 2 installments, partial scholarships available.
All those joining us for this series will need to have their own copy of John Phillip Newell's
new book, "Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul". Available July 6 at Village Book Store and Amazon.
A zoom link will be sent to you after you register. Reminders will be sent out before each meeting.
